


I Don't Know You Anymore

by canufeelthemagictonight



Category: Escape the Night (Web Series), Video Blogging RPF
Genre: (for the beginning), Andrea has issues, Angst, Angst and Feels, Attempted Brainwashing, Attempted Suicide, Betrayal, Chases, Complicated Relationships, Confrontations, Crying, Dubious Morality, Emotional Manipulation, Escape the Night Spoilers, Evil, Evil Plans, Friendship/Love, Gen, Grief/Mourning, Guilt, Gun Violence, Having Faith, Hope, Hunting, I'm sorry Timothy, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Insanity, Joey misses Justine, Male-Female Friendship, Manipulation, Mastermind!Andrea, Moral Ambiguity, Optimism, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Past Character Death, Possessive Behavior, Promises, Revenge, Sad Ending, Scary, The Author Regrets Everything, Tim just wants his best friend back, Unhealthy Relationships, for s1, threats of suicide
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-20
Updated: 2018-09-11
Packaged: 2019-06-29 18:01:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,735
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15734574
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/canufeelthemagictonight/pseuds/canufeelthemagictonight
Summary: He shakes his head, unable to believe what's happening. "I'm not your friend," he murmurs. "Not now. Not when you're like this."Andrea Brooks is the Season 1 mastermind. Timothy has to deal with the consequences.An Escape the Night AU.





	1. The Rat

**Author's Note:**

> Why do I keep getting these awful ideas? Is it because I still love the idea of Mastermind!Andrea Brooks? Also, before anyone asks about the shipping one shots, I promise, I'll try and get one out within the next few days!

He pulls the trigger four times in a row, and he expects the world to flash away. It doesn't. He can still feel his heart thumping in his chest, and he can still see Eva's face across the table. "The hell?" He puts the gun down. "What's going on?"

 _"Congratulations, Privates,"_ blares the loudspeaker. _"You made it through."_

"How?!?" Eva exclaims.

_"Looks like I was wrong. There won't be a casualty tonight after all. Let's just say that one of you has this house on your side."_

Tim raises an eyebrow. "What do you mean by that?"

_"Oh, you'll find out soon. Now get that gold over there and get out of here!"_

The two YouTubers do as they're told. They carry the gold out of the guest house and give it back to Colin, who receives it with a smug look on his dangerously pretty face. Through it all, Tim takes twenty deep breaths, slowly bringing himself out of the sacrificial mindset he was trapped in a mere ten minutes ago.

 _Of course I'm alive!_ he tells himself. _This is like the circus all over again!_ Since this is the third time he's escaped death, he's pretty sure that _he's_ the one who has the house on his side. _I guess I'm just too funny to be killed. Or maybe the evil is a girl, and she's into me. Or maybe..._

He's still rummaging through the possibilities when he and Eva reenter the parlor. Joey gasps. Lele nearly faints with shock. Oli immediately pulls both Tim and Eva into a victory hug.

"I told you!" says Tim proudly. "I _told_ you there was a chance!" For the first time in several hours, he feels genuinely happy.

 

It's challenge time again. Lele chooses Joey as her partner, simply because she trusts him more than she trusts Tim. Oli, meanwhile, _has_ to pick Eva. _Hey,_ thinks Tim with a shrug, _it's probably better this way. At least I won't have to worry about keeping anyone alive._

"I will take you four to the basement," says Arthur. "Timothy, you wait here with Sarah and Marvin. We'll be back shortly."

"Most of us, anyway," is Joey's addition.

"Oh, don't talk like that," chuckles Tim. He glances from Lele to Oli and back again, trying his best to burn their faces into his mind in case one of them doesn't come back. "Maybe the house will be nice again. Who knows?"

Oli shakes his head. "Tim, the house only seems to 'be nice' whenever you're involved, so I doubt it."

"Hey! It's not my fault the demons have a thing for me! It's probably my sparkling personality!"

Eva laughs.

Lele mutters something under her breath. The words "working with the evil" are clearly audible.

The others leave. Tim has nothing to do, so he decides to practice his rapping. "Uh!" He picks up an imaginary mic. "Yeah! I'm in a house of death, but you can't touch me/Mobster comin' at ya with a capital G!" Dammit. He's _still_ off his game. Hopefully, once he gets back to 2016, he'll be able to be the best again.

"Timothy?"

He knows that voice, but...it _can't_ be. She's dead. She died seven hours ago. He must be hearing things.

"Timothy!"

Well, he might as well take a look, just to confirm that he's going crazy.

He turns around. She's there, still dressed in her black ensemble, her copper-colored hair still arranged into that same elegant bun, her lips still as dark red as they were when she died. "Andrea?" Now he's _positive_ that he's hallucinating.

"Timothy." A cheeky grin envelops her face. "It's me."

He goes to her like a man in a trance, and he takes her hand. It's warm. She's real. She's alive.

"How?" he gasps.

Her only response is to pull him into a hug. "I missed you so much," she whispers, and he tightens his grip around her shoulders. Happy tears sting his eyes. His best friend, who he thought was dead, is here with him again, and it feels like every perfect moment of his life rolled into one. The man on the loudspeaker was right. This house really _is_ on his side.

"They said you were dead." The words come out between shaky breaths. "How did you come back?"

She pulls away a bit, but he still holds on to her. "The Ungodly Machine?" She shrugs. "Oh, that wasn't real. It was never going to kill anyone. It just threw up a bunch of smoke, and then I played dead. It wasn't that hard."

"Wait, hold up. You _faked_ your death? Why would you do that to us? To _me?"_

"It was for the sake of the plan," is her cryptic reply.

He steps away from her, confused. "The plan? What plan? There wasn't a plan. I though the plan was just to get out alive."

"I've had my eye on this house for a long time, Tim," she says matter-of-factly. "There's power here. Power beyond anything we've dreamed of. You don't understand right now, but you will. I'll make sure you will."

"I dunno what you're talking about," Tim admits. He's a bit sketched out, and he doesn't like feeling sketched out by his own (not-dead) best friend.

She keeps talking, as if he never said a word. "I needed the artifacts, and then I had to get the previous owners out of the way, but it's almost done now. The house, and its power, are almost mine."

 _That sounds like a super-villain thing to say,_ thinks Tim, and then it hits him like a metaphorical gunshot.

_You've been warned. One among you is in league with the evil of this house._

His eyes grow wide. "You," he gasps. "It's you. You're the rat."

She nods, and his world falls apart.

 _Justine's still screaming, but he tunes her out, because she's a goddamn murderer, and his best friend is_ dead _because of her. Rats don't get to cry for help. This is what she deserves._

"I thought it was Justine!" He backs away from Andrea, his mind a blur of conflicting emotions. "I thought _she_ was working with the evil! Not you!" _Oh, God, I killed Justine for nothing. I buried an innocent person alive for no reason at all._ "Andrea, why? _Why?"_

"The Cursed God made an offer I couldn't refuse," is her reply.

"An offer?"

"Power. Control. The world at my feet."

"You don't _need_ that!" he screams at her. "We're YouTubers! We're not evil overlords! You didn't have to _kill_ them!"

"I had to kill _someone."_

"Andrea," he cries, "you could've killed _me!"_

Her smile returns, but it's colder and crueler than it was before. "That's where you're wrong. From the beginning, I took steps to ensure that nothing would happen to you. After all, you're still my best friend, and I couldn't bear to watch you die."

Tim's head hurts. So his best friend is a monster who wants to take over the world or something, but she's also still his friend? That doesn't make any sense. "You were _helping_ me?"

"Of course." Her dark eyes twinkle. "Why do you think there weren't any piranhas in that tank? I slipped some cash to the ringmaster, and he got rid of them. That wine you drank at the dollhouse...there was no poison in there. The only poison was in the vial that I made _sure_ Matt drank." She giggles. "And the Russian roulette? That was the easiest one of all. As soon as I heard you were going into that challenge, I ran to the guest house, and I took the bullet out of the gun. For you."

 _She still loves me. She saved me because she loves me. This is my chance to win her back to our side._ "If you love me," he tells her, "you'll stop this. You'll let us go."

"That's not the plan."

"Then what did you save me for?"

"You're going to join me." She says this as if she's stating a scientific fact. "We're going to rule time and space together. It'll be like old times."

Tim's mouth drops open in shock. "No! I'm not gonna join you! I'm a Mobster, yeah, but I'm not _evil!"_

"But you're my friend," Andrea insists. "Please. I don't want to hurt you. I want you to do this voluntarily."

He shakes his head, unable to believe what's happening. "I'm not your friend," he murmurs. "Not now. Not when you're like this."

"Timothy, please!"

"Call me when you're good again," he shouts over his shoulder as he heads for the door. _I gotta find the others. I gotta tell them what's going on before it's too late._ There are still tears in his eyes, but they're no longer happy ones. _Why did it have to be Andrea?_

All of a sudden, Marvin blocks the door.

"Out of the way!" snaps Tim. "I don't have time for this, dude. I gotta—"

 _"Now,"_ growls Andrea.

Marvin grabs Tim and forces him into a headlock. Tim tries to squirm away, but Marvin's too strong for him, and he's completely at Andrea's mercy. The Fixer purses her lips and walks towards her old friend, one hand sneaking into her right pants pocket.

 _This is it,_ he realizes. _I'm about to be killed by my own best friend._ "Fine," he snarls. "Do it. But once you do, I'm gonna haunt you forever. I swear to God I will."

"I'm not going to kill you," she says quietly. "I meant what I said. You're going to join me. I'm sorry it had to be this way. Sarah, roll up his sleeve, please."

Before Tim has a chance to understand what's happening, Sarah grabs his shirt sleeve and rolls it up for him. Andrea takes out a needle and jabs it into Tim's defenseless arm. He cries out in pain as strange chemicals sizzle through his bloodstream.

"What did you do to me?" he almost sobs.

Andrea smiles. This time, there isn't any malice in her smile; it's the innocent smile of a girl who wants to hang out with her best friend. "Good night, Timothy. See you at sunrise. I can't wait for you to understand."

"Andrea, no!"

But she shoves a napkin over his nose and mouth, and everything descends into darkness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story is a two-parter. The second part should be out fairly soon.


	2. The Chase

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So...um...remember when I said this was gonna be a two-parter? Yeah, it's a three-parter now. Whoopsie daisy.

When Tim wakes up, he's chained to a post in the dungeon, and he's still himself, which is a relief. Joey, Oli, and Eva are here as well. Lele isn't. Tim murmurs a quick prayer for her soul.

"Tim!" Joey is the first to notice that he's there. "You're alive!"

Tim shrugs weakly. "Yeah. I guess I am." Then, in a rush of broken words, "It's Andrea. She's the rat."

"We know," says Joey.

"Did she say I was dead? Is that why you're so surprised to see me?"

Eva speaks up. "She said that she was 'taking care' of you. We kinda assumed the worst."

Tim can still hear her voice in his ears, whispering _"I can't wait for you to understand."_ His arm feels sore from where she injected him with whatever the hell that was. _If she loves me so much,_ his mind screams, _why'd she do this to me? Why couldn't she just stay the way she was?_

He forgets about it for about ten minutes as the four of them escape their bonds. But once they're finally out, they find a note from Andrea, which Eva reads aloud.

_Timothy. Joey. Eva. Oli. You're safe now. You don't have to worry about anything anymore. I've injected you all with a special serum that Arthur made for me, so by the time the sun rises at six AM, everything will be all right. You'll see things my way. Until then, just stay down here, okay? I love you. Signed, Andrea._

"So if we don't get out of here, we'll lose our free will," Joey realizes aloud. "We'll spend the rest of our lives as Andrea's mindless slaves."

 _"I meant what I said,"_ Andrea hisses in Tim's ear. _"You're going to join me."_

"No!" he screams at her.

Oli turns pale at the thought. "I think I'd rather die."

Joey checks his watch. "It's five-thirty. We have half an hour." He scrambles to his feet. "Let's go."

They run out of the dungeon. Tim kicks his chains on the way out. _I don't care what Andrea said,_ his mind exclaims defiantly. _I'm not going to go where she's going. If anything, I'm going to save her from that life. There's still good in her. There has to be._

He's always been too optimistic for his own good.

 

As the four of them run outside, they hear Andrea's furious shout from the porch. "How did this happen? They were supposed to stay inside!"

"I don't know how they got out!" Arthur protests. "They just did!"

"Enough!" The Fixer's voice drops several octaves too low. "Sarah, you take the house. Marvin, you check the side. Arthur, patrol the front lawn. If you find Joey, Eva, or Oli, gut them where they stand!"

Sarah frowns. "And the other one?"

"Oh, _he's_ mine." A wicked grin envelops Andrea's face. "If you find him, bring him straight to me."

With that, she saunters back into the house, and the staff begin their search for the YouTubers.

Tim's breath catches in his throat as he and the others sneak towards the pool. _They're after us._ He thinks of all the games of hide-and-seek he's played in the past. Some of those games have included Andrea. _I can't let her find me._ "What was the clue again?" he asks his friends. "Something about a reflecting pool?"

"Beneath the surface of a reflecting pool," Eva repeats.

Tim nods. He follows the others to the pool, and he tries not to think about Andrea's innocently evil smile.

 

He's hiding in a potted plant, his heart in his mouth, as Arthur patrols the area. He doesn't know where the others are, but he can only hope that he finds them as soon as possible...before the evil finds him first.

"Timothy!" calls Arthur. "Timothy, where are you? She misses you! She wants to be friends again!"

Tim wants to believe him. He wants to step out into the moonlight, find Andrea, hug her, and make everything okay. But he knows that it's a trap, so he stays where he is and prays that this isn't the end for him and her.

_"Welcome to LA!" he says brightly over the phone. "We've got beaches, we've got boutiques, and we've got, like, fifty strip clubs, so you're all set on entertainment for the next ten years."_

_Her cute little giggle rings in his ears. "Thanks," she chuckles, and he feels proud of himself for making her laugh._

A part of him hates her now. But she’s still his best friend, and if it hadn’t been for her, he might’ve died three times tonight. As long as there’s still a chance to save her, he’ll do whatever it takes.

Arthur leaves. Tim quietly emerges from his hiding spot and rejoins the others. "This way," hisses Eva. "Come on."

A thousand jokes cluster in Tim's head, but he can't bring himself to tell any of them.

 

Arthur's brother pulls himself to his knees, grabs the gun, and fires a bullet into Arthur's chest. The evil butler topples into the fountain, and he doesn't get up again.

"He's done it," Oli breathes.

A mixture of fear and relief dances across Eva's shellshocked face. "Can we go home?"

"This is over," sighs Oli, staring at Arthur's floating corpse with an empty look in his big brown eyes. "It's over."

"Hell yeah!" cheers Tim. Now that the evil staff are all a bunch of dead bodies, maybe Andrea will come to her senses and join their side again. They probably made her do it. She can still be saved. "What do we have to do now?"

Arthur's brother disappears into the darkness.

"We have till sunrise," Eva reminds them, "so we should get moving."

"Wait." Joey pulls out a note. "I found this with the key." He reads it aloud to the group.

_The ritual will not work until all those in league with the evil have been defeated._

Oli gulps. "We have to defeat Andrea, too? We only have five minutes until the sun comes up! We don't have time!"

A jolt of determination shoots through Tim's heart. "You guys do the ritual," he says firmly. "I'll go talk to Andrea."

"I'm coming with you," announces Joey, and Tim knows better than to argue with him.

Oli and Eva leave to start the ritual. As a precaution, Tim and Joey choose weapons from the corpses of the staff members. Joey takes Sarah's butcher knife, which doesn't look right in his pale white hands, while Tim selects the gun that Arthur's brother tossed aside on his way out. He _won't_ use the gun on Andrea. He plans on talking her into being good again. That will count as defeating her, and then they can all go home.

The gun is just a Plan B. After all, there's always a chance that he'll fail, Andrea will stay evil, the sun will rise, and they'll all run out of time. That means they'll be brainwashed. Tim's a very opinionated and passionate person, and he likes being able to think and feel his own thoughts and feelings. Being brainwashed into thinking and feeling what someone else _wants_ him to think and feel, even if that someone else is his best friend, sounds like absolute torture.

It’s not going to happen. If they fail to stop Andrea in time, he’s not going to give her the satisfaction of turning him into her obedient toy. Instead, he’s going to do what he almost did two hours ago.

Arthur’s gun feels cold in his hands.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The third and final chapter will be out soon. It's...not a fun one.


	3. The Showdown

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A friend of mine, [Goldendoodlegamer11,](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Goldendoodlegamer11/pseuds/Goldendoodlegamer11) actually made some really awesome art for this fic! [Link here!](https://www.paigeeworld.com/post/5b9845075fed7df00f3e9564/escapethenight-etn-youtubered-au-impracticingcreepyforhalloweenthings-drawing-by-thedawnofdawn) Go check it out! And now, to conclude the saga.

Now that they have their weapons, Joey and Tim are ready to face their friend-turned-nemesis. Joey mutters a string of angry words under his breath as they walk, and the name "Justine" is clearly audible. As for Tim, he crosses his fingers, hoping against hope that he can win Andrea back over to their side.

He's a smooth talker. He can do it. Right?

Joey catches sight of Andrea before Tim does. "You!" he screams, his voice raw with betrayal and grief.

Andrea stares out a window, her back to the boys, her copper-colored hair shining like a penny in the early morning light. "I knew you'd come, Joey," she snarls, curling her hands into fists against her sides. "After your pathetic _creature_ killed my servants, I knew. Well, no matter. I don't need you. You're not my friend. I'm going to enjoy watching you die."

"Andrea!" _Omigod, she just threatened Joey._ "Stop talking like that!"

Her voice changes completely, as if he flipped her switch, and now, she sounds bubbly and innocent. "Timothy? Timothy, is that you?" She turns around. Her face lights up. "It _is_ you! Yay! Just in time! We can kill Joey _together!"_

"I'm not here to kill anyone," Tim replies.

"Oh." Her face falls. "You _still_ don't understand. What a shame. Well, you'll understand soon enough." She begins to walk slowly towards the boys. "Honestly, it's a good thing I injected you when I had the chance. If it hadn't been for that, I _might've_ had to hurt you. Not kill you, of course. Just hurt you a little. But it's all right now." She smiles. "Just give it a few minutes. You'll see things my way soon."

"Like _hell_ I will." Tim shows Andrea the gun, and then, he puts it to his head. It feels just as cold as it did before. "I'd rather _kill_ myself than let you control me."

Joey shifts nervously in his shoes. "Tim..."

But he is drowned out by a bloodcurdling scream of despair from Andrea Brooks. _"No!"_ She rushes forward. Tim quickly points the gun at her to prevent her from coming any closer. Andrea shudders with relief. "Don't do that again," she whispers. "It was hard enough the first time."

 _So she still loves me. As long as she loves me, I can save her._ "Andrea. Listen. Maybe we can be friends again, without me 'joining' you." He puts air quotes around the word "joining," then continues in an optimistic voice. "Maybe there's another way."

"Tim, we don't have _time_ for this," growls Joey, his knife at the ready.

Tim rounds on Joey. "Joey, I swear to God, you're gonna stay _right there_ and let me do what I have to do, or I'm gonna tell the Greens what you did to GloZell."

Joey shuts up.

When Tim turns back to Andrea, she looks even happier than before. "See, Timothy?" she purrs. "You're already on your way. You're a Mobster. You've killed people. Remember when you buried Justine?"

"You don't deserve to speak her name!" screams Joey.

Andrea ignores him. "I was _so_ proud of you..."

She's right. He _did_ kill Justine. He buried her alive. There's blood on his hands, and there's blood on _her_ hands, and there's blood on _Joey's_ hands as well. No one is innocent here. Hell, Joey's probably going to hate them both for the rest of his life.

_Am I evil already?_

He brushes off the thought.

"Remember when you and I used to talk about our dreams over the phone?" Andrea asks, and Tim remembers. "You said you wanted to take over the world. You said you wanted everyone to know your name. It's time. We're going to take over the world. You and me. Just like you wanted."

"This isn't what I _meant,"_ Tim protests. He _did_ say that he wanted to take over the world, but he meant "become famous," not "become his best friend's brainwashed co-ruler over space and time."

"Well, of course not. You probably never thought that such an opportunity would fall into our laps. That's why you don't understand right now."

"Tim, she's stalling," warns Joey. "We're running out of time."

Tim nods. "Okay. Let's get to the point. There are only two ways this can end. Either I blow my brains out and you lose me forever, or you snap out of this stupid power trip." He lowers the gun. "Which is it gonna be?"

She starts to cry.

 _Oh, no. Oh, no._ Tim can't _stand_ to watch people he cares about cry. It's what almost got him killed two hours ago. Andrea knows this. Of course she does. She knows him _way_ too well.

"No, no, no." He drops the gun. "Don't cry. _Please_ don't cry." He wants to comfort her, but he knows better.

"You don't have to do this." Andrea's shoulders shake, her bottom lip quivers, and her eyes brim with tears. "I love you. Please. Stop fighting it. Everything will be okay if you just let me win!"

Tim laughs bitterly. The reminder of what's in store for him if he fails lessens the impact of her tears, if only slightly. "Yeah. Everything will be okay. And I'll be your little puppet forever. Just what I always wanted!"

"No, not a puppet!" she sobs. "A friend! We'll work together. You'll be happy. You're not going to be happy if you get out without me!"

Again, she's right. He _won't_ be happy if he loses her. That's why he wants to rescue her from the evil's nasty clutches.

 _It's now or never._ "Who said I'm getting out without you?" He holds out a hand to her, trying his best to channel his inner Luke Skywalker. "You still have a chance, Andrea. You're better than this. I know you are. You don't have your staff to push you around anymore, so…just help us get out of here, and we can put the whole thing behind us. We can be friends again."

Joey's blue eyes flash with vengeance. "Speak for yourself!" he shouts furiously, pointing at Andrea with Sarah's knife. "Justine's _dead_ because of her! I’m not gonna let her get away with it!"

"Joey…" _Dude, don't ruin this for me. I'm trying to save her! Don't get in the way!_

Conflicted emotions cloud Andrea's eyes. "I wish…" She frantically glances around the area, and her eyes settle on Tim's face. "I wish…" She takes a step towards him.

He keeps his hand outstretched for her. "You wish what?"

"I wish!" For a moment, she's once again the good-hearted girl that he became friends with so many years ago. She takes his hand, and he thinks that he's convinced her.

_I wish we could be friends again._

_I wish we'd never come here._

_I wish that we could leave this place together._

But then, her eyes go dark once more. "I wish that serum wouldn't take so damn long to work," she hisses, and she tackles him to the ground.

 _"Tim!"_ screams Joey.

Tim immediately regrets dropping the gun. He struggles against Andrea, but she's a lot stronger than he remembers. Either that, or _he's_ a lot weaker. The awful feeling in his stomach tells him that it's the latter.

_The serum…_

"It’s getting to you." Andrea's voice is dangerously sweet. "Not much longer now."

Hot tears roll down his cheeks as he tries to squirm out of her grasp. He doesn't know how long he has before he loses himself to her, but he _does_ know that killing himself isn't an option anymore. Not with the gun so far out of his reach. "Andrea, please!" His thoughts are blurring together in his head. His heart is starting to beat in time with hers. "You're making a mistake! It's not gonna be me anymore! Don't do this! Please, don't—"

She clamps a hand over his mouth. "Shhhh," she whispers, ignoring his whimpered protests. "It's okay, Timothy. It's okay. Don't be scared. Just let it happen. You're gonna be okay."

His muscles refuse to fight back anymore, and he closes his eyes, convinced that he's about to be forced to give up his free will. _I'm sorry, Andrea,_ his brain chokes out as it fights to defend itself. _I'm sorry I couldn't save you._

Then, a stabbing sound is heard.

When Tim opens his eyes, Andrea is lifeless against him, a familiar knife sticking out of the back of her neck. Joey stands over them, breathing heavily. "That’s for Justine," he tells the Fixer's corpse.

Two seconds later, the house is bathed in light. Tim's muddled mind clears up, and he realizes that Oli and Eva have completed the ritual. The evil is defeated. They are free.

He should be happy. Right?

"Andrea…"

He pulls himself into a sitting position and cradles his best friend’s body in his arms. Right now, she isn't the mastermind who trapped them in this awful place. Nor is she the monster who killed so many of his friends, or the psychopath who wanted his friendship so much that she was willing to brainwash him into joining her, or even the bitch who set the staff on them. She's just Andrea, his homegirl, the one who was there for him through everything, and he doesn't want her to be dead.

His tears return. This time, they're not frightened tears, but broken ones.

"We did it," says Joey. "We can go home now."

"You _killed_ her," Tim sniffles.

"And _you_ killed _my_ best friend, so I guess we're even," is Joey's blunt reply. "Besides, your plan sucked. If I hadn't done what I did, she would've won, I'd probably be dead, and you'd be mindlessly going along with whatever the hell she wanted. She didn't love you, Tim. That wasn't love."

Before Tim can respond, Oli and Eva run into the room, holding hands, identical expressions of relief on their faces. "We did the ritual," Eva pants. "I think it worked. Did you..." She sees Andrea's corpse in Tim's arms. "Oh. Yeah. You did."

"Tim..." Oli sighs. "I'm sorry, man."

Tim forces himself to stop crying. "It's okay." He closes Andrea's eyes. Her loss is just another piece of crap on the mountain of bullshit he's had to endure, but at least it's over now. At least he, Joey, Oli, and Eva are still alive. At least they can shake the dust of this house off their feet forever. "Let's go home."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And so it ends. Farewell, Mastermind!Andrea. Time to go back to canon, where you're an innocent cinnamon roll who died too soon. Also, I swear, the reason this finale took so long to write was because I had so many possible endings in my head...some of them darker and more messed up than others. I finally picked this one. Hope you guys liked it!


End file.
